I moved to the West Coast ten years ago, and have been searching in vain for "brownulated" sugar. My motivation was that I don't use sugar much, so the brown sugar I'd buy would solidify itself between uses.

"Brownulated" sugar is sold by Domino on the East Coast. Here's the Cooks' Illustrated take on it, which isn't all positive. The great advantage is that it stays as separate grains.

But now Kenji at Serious Eats has deconstructed the stuff and came up with a recipe to make your own, with whatever characteristics you want.

His closing statement: "Set aside that blowtorch and step back from the stove. There's a new caramel in town, and it has the power to change every recipe you've ever known" may be a bit strong, but it's certainly giving me ideas.

First, there is a difference between caramel and molasses. The SE article is referring to making caramel. Brown sugar contains molasses.

Unless you are buying turbinado, demerara, or moscavado sugar, you are probably not buying what you think you are. Commercially manufactured brown sugar is simply a very fine white sugar with some molasses added back to it. If you don't want to keep it on hand, just keep a bottle of molasses in the pantry.

One tablespoon of molasses plus one cup of white sugar is the equivalent of one cup of brown sugar. This is not just a substitution - it's the actual equivalent - it's how brown sugar is made.

First, there is a difference between caramel and molasses. The SE article is referring to making caramel. Brown sugar contains molasses.

Unless you are buying turbinado, demerara, or moscavado sugar, you are probably not buying what you think you are. Commercially manufactured brown sugar is simply a very fine white sugar with some molasses added back to it. If you don't want to keep it on hand, just keep a bottle of molasses in the pantry.

One tablespoon of molasses plus one cup of white sugar is the equivalent of one cup of brown sugar. This is not just a substitution - it's the actual equivalent - it's how brown sugar is made.

I don't think we have turbinado sugar here but we have demerara, which is the real mcoy, but we also have something called "London Demerara sugar" which is refined (white) sugar with molasses added to make it look brown. I always try to buy unrefined "brown" sugars, whichever type I need - better taste - better for you - better results in cakes, etc..

__________________Don’t look for the light at the end of the tunnel. Stomp along and switch the bl**dy thing on yourself.

I don't think we have turbinado sugar here but we have demerara, which is the real mcoy, but we also have something called "London Demerara sugar" which is refined (white) sugar with molasses added to make it look brown. I always try to buy unrefined "brown" sugars, whichever type I need - better taste - better for you - better results in cakes, etc..

Sugar is sugar. Brown sugar is not measurably better for you.

__________________The trouble with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you're hungry again. ~ George Miller

No, it isn't but unrefined sugar has to be better than the refined white suff with all the guts take out of it. .

"So is the raw stuff really more virtuous? Sugar in the Raw could not be reached for comment, but a spokeswoman for the Wholesome Sweeteners brand of raw sugar explained to me that, like refined sugar, raw—technically called Turbinado—sugar comes from sugarcane (refined sugar can also be derived from beets). The main difference between the two is in the boiling of the cane juice: The juice for refined sugar is boiled several times to remove all the molasses, whereas Turbinado sugar is boiled only once.

The residual molasses gives Turbinado sugar "some flavor and texture other than just sweetness," says Katherine Zeratski, a registered dietitian with Mayo Clinic. But it doesn't provide any significant nutrition. Refined and raw sugar are "calorically identical," Zeratski notes. And while Turbinado sugar does contain calcium, iron, and potassium, it contains them in trace amounts.

__________________Less is not more. More is more and more is fabulous.

I will try the bread trick, and I always have blackstrap molasses on hand, so I'll try the brown sugar "recipe" given above. From the description, I believe I grew up eating "London Demerara" - large "brown" crystals that when quickly rinsed, turn white? After dipping a spoon in the bowl, the grains took minutes to stop moving, allowing my nasty big sisters to convince me it was covered in "bugs," so they could have my share.

Also, thanks to Silversage for pointing out that caramel and molasses are completely different things: duh! From the comments, commercial brown sugar sounds rather like commercial "whole-wheat" flour: a reconstructed facsimile only vaguely like the original.

The reason I need the sugar to keep for a long time is that I only use it when cooking. Other than that, my sugar intake is zero. Yes, I know that processed foods and sodas and so on have tons of added sugar slipped into to them, but I have no interest in those things.

In closing, I think the "brown sugar is healthier" nonsense dates from the '70s, when everything brown was held to be morally superior to white (and giving me a lifelong prejudice against brown rice that I've only now managed to get over).